have you used this type of lens?

[clarie]

Amazon.com: Phoenix 500mm f/8 Telephoto Lens with 2x Teleconverter (=1000mm) Kit for Nikon D40, D60, D3000, D3100, D5000, D5100, D7000, D300s, D3 & D3s Digital SLR Cameras: PHOENIX: Electronics
Has anyone used this and if you did, did you like it?
I'm wanting to get either a teleconverter or lens greater than 500mm for my nikon d3100. Even if its fixed cause I can't aford big bucks. It will be for wildlife/birds/deer...

Clara

 

[TATTRAT]

With an f8, at that focal length, I wouldn't use it for trying to capture moving wildlife. . .stills only. It looks like a case of you will get what you pay for.

 

[SCraig]

I paid more than that for a teleconverter alone.

I can pretty much guarantee, without ever having seen anything from it, that a $120 lens is going to perform about like what one could expect from a $120 lens. Good optics are not cheap. If they were any good every photographer in the world would have a couple.

 

[480sparky]

At 1000mm, you'll have an f/16 lens. What will you even be able to SEE?

 

[cgipson1]

I agree with the others... these lenses are very low quality, and the F8 fixed aperture is a big limitation.

 

[clarie]

so, just a 2xteleconverter to go on my 55-200mm will work? that would get me a 400mm?

 

[table1349]

At 1000mm, you'll have an f/16 lens. What will you even be able to SEE?

A bird flying across the setting sun perhaps?:mrgreen:

 

[tirediron]

Save your money 'til you can afford a proper lens; the old non-VR version of the F4, 500mm can be had for ~$3000 now.

 

[KmH]

so, just a 2xteleconverter to go on my 55-200mm will work? that would get me a 400mm?

You would first need to check that your 55-200 mm will work with a tele-converter.

Is your lens the Nikon AF-S 55-200 mm f/4-5.6 G ED? If it is, it won't work with Nikon's 2x TC.

 

[clarie]

AF-S nikon 55-200mm1:4-5.6 G ED is what I have. do you know of a teleconverter that works with it?

 

[Josh66]

I agree with the others... these lenses are very low quality, and the F8 fixed aperture is a big limitation.

It looks like it's basically a small telescope - it even comes with a t-ring (which is what you use to attach a telescope to a camera).

The description implies that the aperture is not fixed though: f/8 - f/32. (It doesn't say, but that's probably in full stops - half stops if you're lucky.)


I might buy one just for the hell of it, lol. I mean, for $120, if it works at all it's probably a good deal.


I agree with what everybody said though - it's is almost surely a very crappy lens. It might be OK for pictures of the moon though - the 1000mm length is good for that, and f/16 should still give you fast enough shutter speeds (of the moon) to avoid motion blur.

 

[SCraig]

Kenko will. Their PRO series is quite good, their non-PRO series is NOT. I have a Kenko Pro 300 1.4x TC that does a good job. I also have a Kenko M7 2x TC that isn't worth having.

Keep three things in mind though:
1. You WILL lose some image quality. Nothing is free.
2. A 2x TC costs 2 full stops of light so your f/4 to f/5.6 lens is going to behave like a f/8 to f/11 lens. A 1.4x TC only costs one stop of light.
3. Since most autofocus systems won't work below f/5.6 you will most likely have to manual focus all the time.

 

[Derrel]

I have a Quantaray 500mm f/8, which came with the 2x converter, and T-mount adapter. Back in 2004, I took a few pictures with it, using a Nikon D70 I believe, but it might also have been with a Fuji S2 Pro. The lens focuses down to about 35 feet, no closer. The optics in the old-school 400mm f/6.3 and 500mm f/8 long-focus lenses (usually NOT true 'telephoto' designs, just simple, long-focal length lenses) have not changed in decades. Lenses of this type have been on the market at least since the early 1970's, and are relatively "okay", optically. They have a narrow angle of view, and are slow (f/6.3 or f/8) and are not all that challenging to manufacture. The image quality is, I would say, better than that of many zooms + 2x converter combos...buuuut...the focusing is rather slow and sometimes kind of difficult to get just right on anything that is moving, unless it is at long range. At long range, like say 1,000 meters, ATMOSPHERIC conditions are really usually the limiting factor, in most places, so it doesn't matter if the optics are top-drawer or bottom drawer at places like the seashore or during the summer in many places...there is so much chit in the air and/or so much heat mirage that even the FINEST lenses look like rubbish when the distance is more than 100 yards.

Sample Photos:Quantaray 500mm f/8 lens Photo Gallery by Derrel at pbase.com

 

[Patrice]

That teleconverter looks a lot like a barlow. I'm tempted to get one just to fool with. Drill and tap three small holes in the rear barrel to hold a right angle rectifying prism and I might just end up with a decent 63 mm finder scope.

 

[DiskoJoe]

With an f8, at that focal length, I wouldn't use it for trying to capture moving wildlife. . .stills only. It looks like a case of you will get what you pay for.

Only wild life this will be able to catch is chicks at the beach.